Month: February 2017

Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for January 1917: Found Visiting “Her Boys” in Denver

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Thursday February 8, 1917
Mother Jones Found in Denver During Month of January

From The Denver Post of January 1, 1917:

‘MOTHER’ JONES HERE TO SEE ‘HER BOYS’
OF THE MINERS’ UNION
—–

Mother Jones, John P White, UMWJ, Feb 10, 1916

“Mother” Jones, leader of labor, is in Denver. She states that she came here to spend New Year with her “boys,” meaning the members of the United Mine Workers of America. She is fresh from active participation in the strike of garment workers and street car employes in New York, she stated that the returns of the recent national election showed that John P. White had been re-elected president of the miners over John H. Walker of Illinois.

“Mother” Jones says that she is not here to take any part in the factional differences of the officers of the Colorado district. She is of the opinion that there will be a satisfactory adjustment before long and that “everything will come out all right.” She is stopping at the Oxford hotel. She will leave Denver tomorrow night.

———-

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for January 1917: Found Visiting “Her Boys” in Denver” →

Hellraisers Journal: Chicago Federation of Labor Protests War in Response to Wilson’s Break with Germany

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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[Show] the capitalists that we will not permit
ourselves to be made cannon fodder
for their interests.
-William Sims, Janitors’ Union

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday February 7, 1917
Chicago, Illinois – Chicago Federation of Labor Protests War

The Chicago Federation of Labor met February 4th at its regular bi-monthly meeting, the day after President Wilson announced his decision to break off diplomatic relations with Germany. Concerning the grim prospect of war, the following resolution was passed by the delegates:

The Chicago Federation of Labor protests against this country taking part in the European War and demands that all American citizens be prevented from entering the war zone.

From The New York Times of February 4, 1917:

WWI, US Break w Germany, NYT Feb 4, 1917

From The Chicago Daily Tribune of February 5, 1917:

CHICAGO LABOR PROTESTS
WAR WITH GERMANY
—–
Demands That All American Citizens
Be Kept from Belligerent Zone.
—–

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Chicago Federation of Labor Protests War in Response to Wilson’s Break with Germany” →

Hellraisers Journal: Three Horrific Disasters Within Ten Days Claim Lives of More Than 100 West Virginia Miners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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“Dagos are cheaper than props.”
-Mother Jone Quoting a Mine Manager

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday February 6, 1907
West Virginia – Another Mine Disaster at Thomas Mine

Yet another mine disaster in West Virginia occurred at the Thomas Mine near Elkins on February 4th. This follows on the deadly heels of two recent disasters in that state, one at the Lorentz Mine at Penco on January 26th, and the other at the Stuart Mine on January 29th. The combined death toll in the coal mines of West Virginia,  during this 10-day period, is now over 100.

From The Fort Wayne Sentinel of February 4, 1907:

Thomas (WV) Mine Disaster, Ft Wayne Sentinel, Feb 4, 1907

Elkins, W. Va, Feb. 4.-Twenty-five or thirty miners, the majority of them foreigners, are supposed to be dead in the mine explosion today at mine No. 25 of the Davis Coal and Coke company, at Thomas, near here.

It is not known how large the list of casualties may grow until further investigation as there is no way of determining how many men were in the mine at the time of the explosion. The explosion occurred before all the men had entered the mine. A number standing at the entrance to the shaft were hurled in every direction by the force of the explosion and seriously injured.

Five miners who were just entering the mine when the explosion occurred have been taken out so it is believed all the miners already in the mine have been killed.

From the Mount Carmel Daily News of February 5, 1907:

MANY MINERS KILLED
—–

Third Disaster in West Virginia
Within Two Weeks.
—–
25 OR 30 MEN ARE DEAD
—–


Seven Bodies Recovered in Explosion
Near Elkins, and Deadly Gas Drives
Rescuers Away After One Dies
From Suffocation.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Three Horrific Disasters Within Ten Days Claim Lives of More Than 100 West Virginia Miners” →

Hellraisers Journal: FW Joe Ettor and Attorney S. M. Slonim Speak Out on Labor Conditions in Northern Minnesota

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday February 5, 1917
The Labor World – Reports on Labor Hearings

Joseph Ettor, Smiling Joe, text added

In this weeks edition of the Duluth Labor World we find coverage of the hearings which took place on January 30th before the Labor Committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives. Joe Ettor, I. W. W. organizer, testified, as did Virginia Mayor, Michael Boylan, and Duluth Attorney, S. M. Slonim.

Working conditions in the lumber camps were scored by Joe Ettor who stated:

Go into the lumber camps of Northern Minnesota; live the lives of the lumberjacks and then see if you wonder at conditions of unrest.

From The Labor World of February 3, 1917:

The Labor World, Feb 3, 1917

INVESTIGATE CONDITIONS
—–

House Labor Committee Conducts Hearing
on I. W. W. Situation.
—–
MANY WITNESSES TESTIFY
—–
Labor Conditions in Northern Minnesota
Said to Be Abominable.
—–

ST. PAUL, Minn., Feb. 1.—The house committee on labor is determined to ascertain the facts, with regard to the situation in the lumber camps in Northern Minnesota.

It took all Tuesday afternoon to examine two witnesses, members of the Industrial Workers of the World, and Attorney S. M. Slonim, of Duluth, the third witness, did not furnish his testimony until late in the night.

Several persons who have been national figures in labor wars were on hand, in addition to a score of witnesses from the range country, including C. M. Atkinson, editor of The Mesaba Ore, and Michael Boylan, mayor of Virginia.

Ettor Scores Conditions.

[He asserted:]

Ignorance alone is responsible for the unfair attitude shown toward the I. W. W. It is an organization of the working man, the working woman and the working child.

Go into the lumber camps of Northern Minnesota; live the lives of the lumberjacks and then see if you wonder at conditions of unrest. Fancy 50 men, all with wet feet and legs, retiring at night in a small shack, unventilated. To prevent putting on wet clothing the next morning they must hang their socks over the only stove. This merely is one of the many unpleasant conditions to which the lumberjack and mine employes are subjected.

It is not so much the wages paid. Give our men fair living conditions. Feed them fairly and permit them to organize. Then you have picked up the key to the entire situation.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: FW Joe Ettor and Attorney S. M. Slonim Speak Out on Labor Conditions in Northern Minnesota” →

Hellraisers Journal: “Everett, November Fifth,” a Poem by Charles Ashleigh

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Fierce and long the battle rages,
But we will not fear.
Help will come whene’er it’s needed,
Cheer, my comrades, cheer!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal: Sunday February 4, 1917
From the International Socialist Review: Remember Everett!

Everett Massacre, Nov Fifth, Charles Ashleigh, ISR Feb

Walker C. Smith on the young martyr, Hugo Gerlot:

As the Verona cleaved the placid, sunlit waters of the Bay and swung up to the City Dock at Everett, shortly before two o’clock, the men were merrily singing the English Transport Workers’ strike song, “Hold the Fort.”

From a hillside overlooking the scene thousands upon thousands of Everett citizens sent forth cheer after cheer as a hearty welcome to the “invading army.” High up on the flag-pole of the Verona clambered Hugo Gerlot, a youthful free speech enthusiast, to wave a greeting to the throng that lined the shore…

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Hellraisers Journal: Tories, Then & Now, Denounce “Incendiary” Speeches of Patrick Henry and Vincent St John

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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If the plutocrats begin the program,
we will end it.
-Eugene V. Debs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Sunday February 3, 1907
Goldfield, Nevada – Red Flags, Red Banners, Red Ribbons Rule!

WFM button

The kept press finds itself in a state of supreme outrage in view of the fact that the rabble of the nation are not conducting themselves in a calm and reasonable manner as the authorities of the states of Colorado and Idaho, acting in the interests of the Mine Owners Association, attempt a frame-up on Big Bill Haywood and Charles Moyer, officers of the Western Federation of Miners.

From the Appeal to Reason of February 2, 1907:

KING GEORGE AND CAPITAL
—–
The Words of Vincent St. John Have the
Same Effect on American Tories as
Those of Patrick Henry Had
Upon the British Tories.
—–

Vincent St John, New Castle (PA) Herald, Aug 11, 1906

TO illustrate the attitude invariably assumed by the conservators of the dominant order at various times in the world’s history, I herewith reprint two articles taken from papers published more than a hundred years apart. One refers to the demonstration of the Goldfield miners last Sunday, in behalf of Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone, and is clipped from the Denver Republican; the other describes the scenes in the Virginia House of Burgesses, when Patrick Henry delivered his famous philippie against King George, and is selected from a history in which was copied the article as it was taken from an old English paper. The Denver Republican typically represents the cause of capitalism today; the old english paper typically represented the cause of toryism a century ago.

Read and observe the parallel:

HMP, St John Speech at Goldfield, AtR, Feb 2, 1907

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Tories, Then & Now, Denounce “Incendiary” Speeches of Patrick Henry and Vincent St John” →

Hellraisers Journal: Minnesota House Delays Anti-IWW Bill; Labor Committee Holding Hearings; Joe Ettor Testifies

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Friday February 2, 1917
St. Paul, Minnesota – House Labor Committee Holds Hearings

If the Minnesota State Senate thought that the House would quickly join them in the passage of the so-called “I. W. W. Riot Fund,” they were sadly mistaken. The bill has been tabled for now, and the House Labor committee is in the process of holding hearings into conditions up on the Mesabi Iron Range and in the logging camps of northern Minnesota.

From The Minneapolis Morning Tribune of January 30, 1917:

ACITON DEFEREED ON I. W. W. RIOT FUND
—–

MN16 Gunthugs on the Mesabi, ISR Jan 1917

The House appropriations committee at its meeting last night deferred a recommendation on the so-called $50,000 I. W. W. appropriation annually for a period of two years to employ deputy sheriffs for the suppression of labor troubles in northern Minnesota, pending action of the labor committee.

———-

[Photograph added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Minnesota House Delays Anti-IWW Bill; Labor Committee Holding Hearings; Joe Ettor Testifies” →

Hellraisers Journal: Rebellion in Lumber Camps of Northern Minnesota: Harrison George Reports

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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The camps are deserted, the strikers firm,
the bosses wild and the cat sits on
every log that straggles thru
to the mills of Minnesota.
-Harrison George

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Thursday February 1, 1917
Northern Minnesota – Lumber Workers Fight for Dignity

IWW Metal Mine Workers IU No. 490, Hibbing MN, June 19, 1916, Crpd

The Duluth News Tribune could not contain its glee when the Mesabi Iron Miners’ Strike was defeated last December and the I. W. W. organizers bid the workers of the Range good-bye. So imagine then the surprise when less than two weeks later the Industrial Workers of the World again appeared on the Range, this time to organize under the leadership of “Timber Beast” Jack Beaton and Fellow Worker Charles Jacobson, Secretary of the Virginia L. U. A meeting was held in the Finnish Socialist Hall of Virginia, demands issued, and soon a strike was on at the two sawmills and in the lumber camps of the Virginia & Rainy Lumber Company.

From the International Socialist Review of February 1917:

Lumber Workers, Camp Grub Pile, ISR, Feb 1917

WHILE the Lumber Workers’ Union, the bull-pen of the Industrial Workers of the World, was in convention at Portland, Ore., during the last week of December, the rumblings of revolt began half way across the continent among workers of that industry in Minnesota.

North and westward of the Mesaba Iron Range lies millions of acres of swamp lands. In the primeval state, these swamps were covered with magnificent forests where roamed the Indian and the fur-bearing fox, bear and beaver. In this section John Jacob Astor’s fur business in the early times laid the base of the present Astor-crat fortune. A very simple process—the Indians skinned the animals and Astor skinned the Indians.

Later huge land grants the railroads secured by bribery and worse practices, opened the forests to the pillage of the Lumber Trust. Where the government yet retained title to timber lands, the lumber trust in open defiance simply entered and stole the finest of timber and used the political axe on all annoying officials.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Rebellion in Lumber Camps of Northern Minnesota: Harrison George Reports” →